


Half-Life: Rewritten Consequences (Half-Life: Fulllife Consequences Rewritten)

by theunknownfanficwriter



Category: Half Life: Full Life Consequences, Half-Life
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Comedy, Complete, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Family, My First Work in This Fandom, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Other, Rewrite, Shooting Guns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 09:09:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25348249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theunknownfanficwriter/pseuds/theunknownfanficwriter
Summary: This is an attempt at continuing/rewriting the story of Half Life: Fulllife Consequences in a more competent fashion.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Facing the Consequences

# Half-Life: Rewritten Consequences

### Chapter One:

#### "Facing the Consequences", or "What Has To Be Done"

(Author's Notes: This is the first fanfiction I've ever written and is meant as an unofficial continuation/tribute to the original Full-Life Consequences. As such, some characters may [obviously] have their dialogue changed or characteristics altered. This-)

_"I believe it is… in my best interest to halt this further exposition. My employers have a keen interest in this proposition and have, well… let's just say they have removed certain 'restrictions' under these unorthodox circumstances. Your 'notes' are no longer needed, Dear Author. I shall...take over from here."_

The G-Man adjusted his necktie, and turned to look directly at John Freeman, who appeared to be in a near catatonic state. His body was frozen in place, aside from his head and darting eyes. Freeman looked around the empty, black void he was situated in. He tried to move his arms, then his legs to no avail. When he spotted G-Man staring at him, Freeman almost screamed. Luckily, Freeman kept his composure and thought of what to say to this mysterious, well-dressed person.

"Where the hell am I? What is this place?! Who are you?!"

The G-Man remained silent as he suddenly smiled at Freeman. Freeman became pissed in response. What little movement remained in his limbs caused them to violently shake with anger. Freeman's face also scrunched up as he angrily shouted at the suited figure.

"Where's Henry? What did you do with him?!"

The G-Man kept his smile and silence as he watched Freeman struggle for words.

_**"ANSWER ME!"** _

The G-Man decided now was the time to interfere.

_"All of your...questions will be answered soon enough, Mister Freeman. You may be wondering as to who and what exactly I am. That is not exactly important at this particular moment in time. What is… important is that you are destined to, as I recall, 'rewrite the mistakes your dear Father has made.'"_

John Freeman looked confused.

"What…? What are you _talking_ about?"

_"You'll see soon enough, Mister Freeman."_

As the G-Man says this, the void around them begins to violently shake, as if inside the Earth's crumbling crust itself. Freeman begins to panic as the void starts to glow a bright white. The G-Man then crumples his hand into a fist, which radiates an electric energy. The G-Man then presses his electric hand into Freeman, causing him to be electrocuted and scream. Freeman then disappears in a bright flash of white. The flash fades, now with only the G-Man present inside the void.

_"Let us see if the 'Savior of...Humans' is promising to our benefactors. Oh, yes, I have one last message to share… for those who choose to witness this peculiar phenomena._

_Prepare for unforeseen consequences."_

The world suddenly flashes a bright white as everything around the G-Man begins to crumble and fall apart…

...John Freeman shot up from his surreal nightmare. He took a few breaths before he fully calmed down. He slowly looked around his cubicle. The rings of telephones and rhythmic tapping of keyboards echoed inside the office. Everyone was working on their usual assignments; some in charge of the Citadel's propaganda, some working on the mundane budget reports. Everything was exactly as it was when Freeman first left for his grand adventure. What was that weird dream? Who was that mysterious man, and what did he want with Freeman's son? Before he could comprehend what the hell the bizarre dream was, Freeman suddenly heard an email being sent. He checked on his computer and, sure enough, there was an email sent to his account. Must be the boss assigning something again. Freeman groaned as he checked it out for himself. Much to his surprise, it was from Gordon Freeman, his brother! John found this odd, as Gordon was recently helping the Resistance. What was he doing emailing his brother at a time like this? He read further along the message.

"Hey, John! I know I don't normally send you emails during important events, but we recently got attacked by the 'aliens' and the Combine. I'm currently trapped in Ravenholm, the one our dad used to tell about. I kinda need your help."

With that, John immediately shut down his computer and ran to the elevator. One of his co-workers stopped him to ask where exactly he was going.

"I need to help my brother."

"Gordon? Isn't he helping out with the Resistance?"

"He was, but now he's trapped in Ravenholm, and I need to rescue him."

_"RAVENHOLM?! WOAH!"_

Gina Cross, former member of the Black Mesa Science Team and survivor of the Black Mesa Incident, fell out of her chair. She quickly gets up and expresses her concern to John.

"John, that place is _dangerous_. It is overrun with zombies that can tear you apart in two. You can _not_ go there."

John shyly looked to the side. He had been told about the place ever since he and Gordon were children. He was reminded of how his father barely made it out of the then overrun City 17 and helped make Ravenholm a safe haven for the survivors, only for it to be infested with zombie monstrosities. Gina set her chair back up and sat down in it.

"Besides, I'm sure that Gordon can handle himself. He has that girl, washername?"

_"Alyx?"_

"See? With her, Ravenholm'll be a _breeze_."

Suddenly, Colette Green, a friend of Cross, held up her phone from her cubicle. Green had a concerned look on her face as she told the recently received news.

"Uh, guys, I just got word from Alyx. Gordon's gone into Ravenholm. Er, alone, she says."

Everyone turns to look at Green in shock. That was John's cue to go help his brother. He ran for the elevator and pressed the button. As the elevator slowly lowered, Cross walked to John to give him his Resistance outfit. John took it, and smiled at Cross. Cross smiled and gave a thumbs-up.

"Good luck, John."

As John got to the top of the building, he changed into his outfit and got onto his motorcycle.

"It's time for me to live up to my family name. It's time-"

John remembered the dream with the well-dressed man and the haunting phrase he said.

"It's time to face Full Life Consequences."

He drove off the building and did a sick backflip. He landed with a hard thud, thankfully not breaking the motorcycle and his entire skeleton. He drove through the barren city as speedy as he could. Suddenly, a small alarm blared behind him. John groaned. It was the Combine Task Force. And he was so close to Ravenholm, too. He pulled over and waited as one of the Combine Soldiers trudged to his motorcycle.

**"License and registration."**

John pulled out his Citadel Citizen License as well as his Totally Not Fake Driver's License. The Soldier inspected the items with due scepticism. As the Soldier asked John where exactly he was going, a headcrab suddenly attacked the soldier. John watched in horror as the headcrab possessed the now zombified soldier. The soldier was now running toward John with the intent to kill.

"Sorry, officer, you just reached your expiration date."

John rammed the Combine Zombie with his motorcycle and drove by the entrance of Ravenholm. The sign for the now abandoned site was smeared with blood, presumably from one of the survivors. The blood was arranged to form a warning to those who dared wish to enter.

_**"ALL HOPE IS LOST HERE."** _

John got off his motorcycle and stepped into the desolate wasteland. Buildings that were once filled with people were now covered with vines, foliage, and almost to the point of breaking down. The grass had grown up to John's knees, trees sprouted everywhere. It was nature's battleground, thought John. Suddenly, he heard a horrific scream coming from inside Ravenholm. He recognized it as his brother and delved further into the desolate area. After many houses, deactivated traps, and hordes of zombies, he saw Gordon battling what appeared to be a giant Zombie. Upon a second glance, however, this Zombie appeared to be a mutated abomination. Its arms were large and swollen, seemingly bursting with muscle. Its face, if you can even call it that, was open twice as wide as a normal human's. Its mouth was stretched to the side, revealing a large set of sharpened teeth. Its eyelids were open wide, but the eyes were missing, leaving a hollow space. Its body was disgustingly covered in veins and twisted flesh. It had no legs, instead using its long veins as a means of movement. The thing was grabbing Gordon with his "hand," which were multiple human hands fused into one mass. Gordon was trying desperately to break free. Alas, the monster's grip was much tighter than his. John looked for anything to help get Gordon out of this messy situation. He spotted a shotgun on the ground and picked it up. Just before the monstrosity could devour Gordon, John shouted at it.

"Hey, **ugly**! Over here!"

The creature turned and was immediately blasted in the face with the newly acquired shotgun. The thing roared in pain, its shriek echoing throughout. John raced to Gordon's side and helped him up.

"Hey, y'all right?"

Gordon, due to him being mute, calmly signed to John.

"Yes, I'm fine. Not sure about that thing, though. Whatever it is."

Gordon looked at John's shotgun with delight.

"A shotgun. Nice."

Gordon pulled out his Gravity Gun and pulled a buzzsaw toward him. He signed to John.

"Ready to take this guy on?"

John reloaded his shotgun with a smirk.

"Hell yeah. Let's rock and roll."

The brothers were relentless: John fired his shotgun into the monster's chest, which made it stagger. Gordon launched the buzzsaw at full speed toward the abomination's face, which struck with a hard blow in between its jaw. The monster roared and lunged at John. John dodged the attack and fired another round into its shoulder. A black substance gushed from the wound, which leaked onto the ground with a sizzling sound. Gordon climbed on top of the beast and punched the buzzsaw through the side, spewing much of the same substance onto Gordon. The thing swung its gigantic arm and knocked Gordon to the ground. John gasped.

_"Gordon!"_

Before the creature could deliver the final blow, a glowing red dot appeared on the thing's chest. Soon, a beeping sound could be heard coming from it. The monster looked at it with a confused demeanor before the device inside it suddenly activated. The monster was blown to shreds. Whatever was left of its head was now a bleeding hunk of flesh. Gordon slowly got up and dusted himself off, now drenched in the odd substance. He signed to John, asking if the whole "exploding thing" was his idea.

"Uhh, sorry, bro, wasn't me. But, you got to admit, that was kinda cool."

Gordon sighed.

"Yes, I have to agree. It was pretty cool. But, who in their right mind-?"

"BY THE BLESSED LORD ABOVE, IF IT ISN'T GORDON FREEMAN!"

A mysterious, balding figure suddenly jumped off a nearby roof in front of Gordon in a three-point landing. The man brushed himself off and laughed. Gordon signed to the man, now with tears in his eyes.

"Father Grigori?"

Grigori laughed triumphantly as he hugged Gordon in his tight grip.

"SO YOU DO REMEMBER, OLD FREEMAN!"

Gordon hugged Grigori back, with his eyes now filled with tears. John titled his head, perplexed.

"You know this guy?"

Grigori stopped hugging Gordon to let him wipe the tears from his eyes. Gordon signed to John, now with most of the tears already left his face.

"John, this is Father Grigori, he's one of the few survivors of Ravenholm. I met him after me and Alyx got separated. He saved my head from becoming zombie chow. Apparently, he knew our dad and even worked with him during the Combine Invasion. My dad would tell stories of how he barely made it out alive, rescuing the brave souls that stepped foot inside-"

Gordon suddenly blushed.

"Sorry, went on a bit of a ramble. Point is, I thought I would never see him again after he was bombarded with a horde of those zombies. Luckily-"

Grigori interrupted Gorden with a triumphant statement.

"I BLASTED THOSE MONSTERS BACK TO THE DEPTHS OF HELL!"

Grigori shook John's hand rapidly.

"YOU MUST BE JOHNATHAN FREEMAN. GORDON HERE TOLD ME SO MUCH ABOUT SOMEONE LIKE YOURSELF."

"Well, uh, nice to meet you, too."

The three of them laughed together. They all quieted down and John then asked how exactly Grigori blew the thing up.

'THAT? OH, THAT WAS A LITTLE THING I LIKE TO CALL…"

Grigori pulled a grenade pin from his pants pocket.

" 'A HOLY MIRACLE.' "

John stared in awe.

"Woah."

Gordon cut the moment short by signing where the nearest exit was.

"FOLLOW ME, I SHALL GUIDE YOU TO FREEDOM."

Eventually, after a long and treacherous journey through the outskirts of Ravenholm, they arrived at what appeared to be an abandoned mine.

"HERE WE ARE. YOUR ONE-WAY TICKET TO SALVATION."

They waved goodbye to Father Grigori as they stepped foot into the mine. John took one last look back as they finally headed out of the wretched place.

######  _To Be Continued..._


	2. The Beginnings of a Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When John and Gordon escape the barren wasteland of Ravenholm, they find something terrible waiting for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not updating the series in a long time. I was very busy with other stuff and I didn't really have the time to finish it. With that out of the way, here's Chapter 2 of Rewritten Consequences!

# Half Life: Rewritten Consequences 

### Chapter 2:

#### The Beginnings of a Hero, or _E tu, Freeman?_

After the large trip John and Gordon went on, they were very exhausted. From fighting some of the Combine just to get to the hideout to trying to find it in the first place, John, as well as Gordon, were effectively "done".

"Gordon, I'm pooped. Like, seriously bro, that was a freaking nightmare to get through. Oh my God, let us never do that again."

Gordon tiredly signed to John.

"I agree. It's a miracle we made it out alive."

"Cheers to that."

One of the Resistance members rolled his eyes. He survived much worse than what the two Freeman brothers had to put up with. As they approached the door, Gordon quickly signed to John.

"Alright, John. Listen, these people have suffered a lot of hardships due to the Combine invasion. We should give them our respect and be as polite as possible."

"Come on Gordon, when have I _ever_ been rude and disrespectful?"

Gordon narrowed his eyes at John.

"...Okay, look, I didn't think calling Dr. Kleiner "dad" would make him cry. I was just being nice."

Gordon sighed and the two brothers looked as the Resistance member knocked on the door to the bunker.

"Hey, it's Leon. We're in the clear. I brought Gordon Freeman and his little brother with me."

_Little?_ John was a bit dumbfounded that "Leon" would think he was the youngest in the Freeman family. The door opened, and a woman poked her head out of the doorway. She was ecstatic to see the two Freemen still alive.

"Doctor Freeman, you're **kidding**! I've just been on the line with Alyx; her father's been captured."

John was shocked! He went all this way just to have Kleiner be taken by somebody. He ran past Gordon and shouted.

"**WHAT?!** Her dad's been captured? What happened, who kidnapped him, how do we stop them?!"

John leaned over to Leon and whispered.

"Who's Alyx's dad again?"

Everyone groaned. The woman opened the door, and let Leon enter inside the bunker. Leon called for everyone to follow him inside.

"You too, uh..."

John was internally screaming at this point. He just wanted this to all be over and for everyone to go home.

"_John. _It's John.__"

"Right. This way, John."

Gordon, Leon, and John stepped inside the bunker. The place was cramped and slightly damp, with only a few lights illuminating the industrial-looking shelter. John noted to himself that this looked more like a parking lot than something survivable. John noticed that there were a few mattresses strewn about the hard, cold floor. There were people sleeping in these mattresses, most of them clothed. There was a large couch with a box beside it. The box had marker written on it with the words "EMERGENCY SUPPLIES - DO NOT OPEN" on it. There was what looked to be an amateur communications device; wires were connected to a radio, a computer, and an unstable black-and-white image of Alyx on the screen. The two stared a bit at the screen as they waited for proper communication to be established, or so they believed. John whispered to Gordon.

"So, that's Alyx, right? The one whose dad got kidnapped?"

The image of Alyx quickly showed her crossing her arms and giving a "you're joking, right" look. Though the audio quality was subpar, the brothers could still make out what Alyx was saying.

"You do know I can hear you, right?"

John's face turned red in an instant. Gordon facepalmed at the current situation unfolding. At that moment, John wanted to crumple up and die. Gordon stood closer to the device and discussed the issue with Alyx while John stayed behind, not wanting to embarrass himself even further. He leaned his body against the wall, pondering over the events that just transpired. Suddenly, John heard someone trying to talk with him. He looked around, trying to see who or whatever that was. The creature then pointed to himself, which made John look down. He saw a Vortigaunt standing in front of him, a bit annoyed at John not noticing him. He then cleared his throat and started to talk to John.

"You are Johnathan Freeman, I presume."

Surprised that the Vortigaunt was talking to him instead of his brother, he answered back.

"Uh, yeah, in the flesh. At least, I think it's flesh."

"_Ah!_ Good to see you are still in good spirits after all this time."

"Yeah, sure..."

The Vortigaunt could tell that John had something on his mind. Something that John did not want to discuss with the alien.

"Why so distraught? You are the brother of the great Gordon Freeman, the one who freed us from our cruel enslavement. Are you perchance jealous of his accomplishments?"

"What? _No!_ I'm actually very proud of my bro for saving you guys. Without him, you guys would probably still attack the Earth and be enslaved by that, what was it, "Nihilanth" or something? It's just that... I tend to feel a bit... existential. Like, nothing I do really matters in the end and that everything's...not real? You probably don't even know what that is."

Much to John's complete surprise, the Vortigaunt disagreed!

"On the contrary, Mister Freeman. We have been forced to deal with what the human species calls 'existential dread' for the last thousands of years. Nihilanth had built our society around the concept of wondering what the meaning of our lives were, what our 'great purpose' was in the vast galaxy of the universe, and so on. We constantly asked ourselves what it meant to be truly part of our own kind, why we carry out the tasks we accomplish. Of course, that was long before the Combine invaded our homeworld. After then, Nihilanth had lost his mind. He forced us into slavery, carrying out seemingly pointless tasks and attempting to force his own beliefs onto us. We didn't give up, however. We still held onto the hope that one day, we will be free from this infernal prison that we once called home. I am getting a bit ahead of myself, but the point is that you are not alone in this suffering. I shall be there to help you whenever you need it."

John smiled. At least he had someone, even if they were from another world, that understands what he's going through. Gordon ends the call and walks over to John.

"John, we need to take the Scout Car and drive through Highway 17 to rescue Alyx's father. You up for it?"

When Gordon signed the last word in the sentence, John's face lit up. He had never been allowed to drive anything in his entire life. This was his big opportunity, his grand moment. Leon was a bit concerned over John's ecstatic face and asked Gordon if his brother knew how to drive. Without taking his eyes off of John, Gordon signed to Leon.

"Nope."

Leon's eyes widened. Letting someone with no experience drive anything is a big no-no, even inside the Resistance. Exasperated, John asked why exactly he was letting John drive the Scout Car.

"He never really got to drive for most of his life. I wanted to give him something he would appreciate for the rest of his life."

"Hey, bro, can I bring my camera, too?"

Gordon sighed. He signed to his brother with a simple "of course". What followed was would could only be described as an absolutely insane montage. John was taking pictures of various scenes throughout his drive: one was of him driving through the road with several Combine helicopters and cars tailing behind him, with Gordon pointing a shotgun at one of the cars; one was of them was of Gordon meeting Odessa Cubbage and having Cubbage teaching Gordon about the RPG with an "OMG" pose; the subsequent shot shows Gordon misfiring the RPG, causing a huge explosion in the background with John slightly blurred due to the sudden shaking. There are also other miscellaneous photos taken of the trip across Highway 17 and Nova Prospekt, with Gordon trying to figure out where to go, fighting Combine, or having both John and Gordon trying to fight off an Antlion Guard with a shaky camera. John and Gordon, along with one of the Vortigaunts, review the various photos taken along the journey.

"Probably delete that one. Your faces are too blurry to be distinguishable."

Gordon does exactly that, and the two go inside Nova Prospekt. They wave good-bye as they set off continuing their long travel for Alyx's father. Will they survive against the cruel environment inside? ...I dunno, probably.

######  _**To Be Continued...** _


	3. The Final Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After trudging through the toughest challenges in their lives, Gordon and John finally reach Nova Prospekt and try to lead the assault against the Combine army. Little do they know, there is just one more surprise awaiting them.

# Half-Life: Rewritten Consequences

### Chapter 3:

#### The Final Confrontation

Gordon and John had walked inside the Nova Prospekt compound. The walls were metal, and cracking in various places. What were once prisons for various citizens and criminals were now empty spaces with metal bars bent, broken, and in a somehow sadder state than before. The smell was rancid. Rotting flesh, mold, and other disgusting things left behind caused both of the Freeman brothers to cover their faces to avoid processing it. The foul stench caused something to rise within John. Soon, John felt nauseous and very ill. Acting on instinct, he looked around for something to vomit in. He found a random bucket left on the crumpling floor. Jackpot. John grabbed it as fast as he could and upchucked what would have been his lunch into the metal bucket. Gordon, wanting not to end up like John, dug into his HEV suit, with the futile hope that it would somehow have a pocket. He reached inside, and felt something poke against his fingers. Gordon grabbed it, and pulled it out. It was his old nose plugs he recieved while his brief time working at Black Mesa. He put it on his nose, and breathed a sigh of relief as he could no longer smell nor taste the odor. Gordon handed the plug to John, who snatched them out of his hands. John put the plug on his nose, then got up and rubbed the remaining puke away from his mouth. Gordon then signed to John.

"Are you alright, John?"

Despite being obviously frustrated and annoyed, John gave a thumbs-up to show that he was doing fine. Gordon searched through the cells to see if he could find anything useful, while John wandered around the cell blocks, taking in the decrepit, abandoned section of Nova Prospekt. He spotted what looked like Alyx at the far end of the hallway. John paused and wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him. That was, until Alyx was seen backing up, shooting at something with a pistol. The thing moved further toward Alyx, and showed itself to be a Headcrab-infected Combine soldier. The Zombine stopped, then turned to John. The Zombine's communicator started to spew nonsense phrases.

"C̵̛̪̎̅̓̐̌̔̊̈̒ơ̵̗̳̹͖̣̣͍̿̇͆͂̏̚̕͝ͅͅn̴̨̧̮̜̖͓̯̠̭̙̱͒̐̽͝ẗ̷̡̧̧̘̠̮́̂͆́ă̷̼̍̕c̴̨̛̛̠͓͖̻̤̮̲̝̞̦͛̂̀̌͐̂̆͑̇̓͠t̶̤̬̎͗̈̐̓̂̎͘͠͝.̴͚̙̬̠̣̼̣̱̫̭̹͙̝̙͛̀̏͋̈̊̇̉͒ I̶̧̺̞̼̙̦͎̞̞̲̥͔͑̑͋n̵̞͂͜f̷̢̨̛͙̲̖̝̝̠̲̅̎̓̊́͂͋̓͐e̵̢̧̩͙̝̜͉̠̦̿͊͘s̴̪͙͔̄̃̈̂͒͛̊̊̔̏̚͝t̵̨̢̡͙̲͖͚̩̺̳̗̍̓͊͐͘͝a̴̧̹̭̹͆̓̽̏͛͋̈́̅͆̑̅̇̚̚͠t̸̨̛̼͂͐̆̓͒̔̑͛́̂̅͘i̷̡̠̎̑̃̄̇͋̑̂̅͋̓͋o̶̻͙̼̼͌͗̇̽́̄͐͒̽̈̒͑͘͜͠n̸̬̗͇͔̳͔̟̹͇͓͎̫͗̈̅̄͑̎̾̓͘͘."

The Zombine then screeches at John. John pulls out his revolver, aimed at the Zombine's head. The Zombine then pulled out a grenade and started sprinting toward John. John felt scared, but kept the gun pointed at the Zombine. The Zombine charged toward John, with the grenade's beeps getting louder and faster with each passing second. Time felt like it stopped. Sweat dripped off of John's forehead. The Zombine's jaw was open with sharp, serrated teeth. John closed his eyes, and clicked the gun to fire the shot. Click. John's eyes opened to find the gun had no ammo left. John was frozen with fear as the Zombine lunged at him with incredible speed. John could only watch as the mutated soldier stuck out its claws at John... 

There was a sudden bang as the Zombine slid past John with the grenade still in his hand. John whipped around just in time to see Gordon crush the grenade in the Zombine's clutches. The metal boot crunched the grenade like a soda can and little pieces of shrapnel fell onto the floor. John looked up to see the determined Gordon standing over the now dead Zombine. Gordon appeared to be covered in blood, with a dead headcrab on his shoulder. He looked like he fought through an entire army's worth of zombies and headcrabs. Gordon lifted his boot off the destroyed grenade and looked up to see his astonished brother staring at him.

"Are you okay," Gordon signed. 

John snapped out of his trance and gave a quick nod. Gordon gave a quick smirk as Alyx stepped over to the pair.

"Looks like you two got this under control. I'm Alyx, by the way."

Alyx stuck out her arm to John.

"Uh, the name's John. John Freeman."

John and Alyx shook hands as they got to know each other on a more personal level.

"Right, so, we need to get to the place where they're holding your dad and rescue him. ...And there's probably gonna be some guys guarding the place."

The three of them paused to think about what to do next, then huddled together.

"Alright, we need a way to get past the guards," signed Gordon. "They might kill us if we're unprepared, since they're packing a lot of guns. Does anyone have any ideas?"

"Well, we could always use you as bait. I know that sounds crazy, but they might be dumb enough to fall for it."

"I'm not in favor of this, but honestly, that seems like it could work."

Alyx was vehemently against this plan.

"Gordon, are you _crazy?!_ You could get killed! Think about this could backfire and--"

"Alyx, we really don't have much of an option at this point."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with my bro on this one. There's not much we can do without alerting anybody."

Alyx sighed.

"Fine. If this works, I owe you all of my magazines for a month."

"Sweet! I needed some ammo anyway."

Gordon and Alyx looked at John like he was a braindead zombie.

"...What?"

The crew eventually came to an opening with a few guards patrolling on of the cell blocks. Gordon signed for everyone to get ready. John and Alyx nodded. The guards were on their daily patrol, watching for anybody that comes through and hoping they don't have to shoot anybody. One of the guards hears someone walking.

"Hey, Ben, ya hear that?"

Ben looked to his partner and noted that he too heard the noise.

"Sounds like metal. Wonder if one of the Elites is coming today."

"Eh, I dunno Tommy, maybe. It does sound kinda...familiar."

The two guards then spotted Gordon with his hands in the air walking toward them. The guards instinctively pointed their guns at Freeman, ready to blast him to Zen and back. Gordon didn't pull out his weapons or anything; he kept his arms in the air as they inspected Gordon with suspicion. Thomas then put his arm in front of Ben, causing Ben to do a double take. Tommy then squinted his eyes at Gordon. He thought that Gordon looked...like someone he met before.

"What the hell is wrong."

Thomas didn't say anything at first. He just kept looking at Gordon suspiciously. Thomas then recognized Gordon.

"Hold your fire."

"What?"

"_Hold your fire._"

Ben put his gun back into its holster.

"...Mister Freeman? Do you... remember me? From Black Mesa? We used to work on stuff together. I used to be obsessed with soda a lot?"

Thomas was hoping, practically begging that Gordon would at least have a sliver of a memory about him. Gordon squinted at Thomas and attempted to sign to him.

"...Tommy?"

Thomas's face lit up. But before they could have a reunion, a loud crashing sound came from behind the guards. They turned around, much to the dismay of Gordon. The guards spotted Alyx and John trying to put a knocked over barrel back upright. Gordon signed for them to run. As soon as they bolted out of the block, the guards immediately tried to attack Gordon. Gordon grabbed one of the guard's arms and flipped them onto the ground with a hard thud. Ben pointed his SMG at Gordon, but hesitated to fire it. Gordon quickly pulled out his crowbar and with one swing, knocked Ben unconscious.

"Come on, Gordon, let's go!" Alyx called Gordon from down the hall. 

Gordon took one last look at his former colleagues sprawled around on the floor, then ran toward Alyx and his brother. It seemed like he was running in circles; every hallway seemed the same and all the walls were just as decrepit as the last. Gordon thought he somehow got lost, losing them in an endless maze of cells and cracking walls. He ran up and down stairs that seemed to last a long while. Gordon took out a few turrets firing at him and continued running. Gordon spotted a few Combine Soldiers laying on the ground, indicating Alyx and John must've taken care of them. He saw what looked to be a Combine soldier lying on a metal table. This is where the Combine must've been created, thought Gordon. They weren't as powerful as his first encounter with the merciless monsters. They were vulnerable, now at the mercy of Gordon and his friends. Gordon then continued sprinting. It went on for what felt like hours, running and occasionally taking out one or two Combine thanks to the Antlion seeds he got. By the time he got out of the building, Gordon was sweating like a madman. His breathing was unsteady and raspy, thanks to the constant sprinting. He had to lean on one of the outside walls and take a few breaths before he could continue on. His legs and his heart were throbbing at a rapid speed. Gordon felt like he could pass out at any moment. The HEV Suit suddenly activated, with the old robotic voice he'd never thought he would ever hear.

"ADMINISTERING. MORPHINE. "

There was a sharp stinging in Gordon's back, then liquid starting flowing through his body. Gordon's breathing slowed as the morphine in his body started to take effect. He eventually started breathing normally, and stood up to dust some of the blood off of his HEV Suit and take off the now useless nose plugs. He took a deep breath, and looked around for Alyx and John. He couldn't call out to them, as he was mute, but he was a self-proclaimed puzzle-solver. A large explosion off in the distance made Gordon jump a bit. He knew if the explosion was anywhere near them, they would be pretty much dead. Gordon slogged through the more deserted part of Nova Prospekt. It was more rocky and had garbage thrown haphazardly. There was even a burning barrel nearby, implying that someone once lived there. Eventually, through the dilapidated side of Nova Prospekt, he found a clearing nearby. It was filled with boulders and wood attached to one of the hard walls. He entered through a hole, and found himself inside a small room. Well, it wasn't really a room, more of a claustrophobic nightmare. It was cramped, barely any room for Gordon to walk around in. Gordon saw a tunnel and climbed inside. It took a bit, but Gordon eventually managed to squeeze inside it. He crawled through, cringing as the HEV Suit scraped against the rough tunnel. He pulled himself through and saw Alyx and John running down a walkway. A train passed by, indicating that it was the train depot Alyx told him about. Thank God, thought Gordon. He went under the space under the train tracks, and found an door. The morphine had completely worn out, leaving Gordon breathing heavily and feeling an incredible amount of pain again. Alyx and John saw the exhausted Gordon leaning against the elevator door and jumped down.

"Glad you made it."

Gordon coughed and wheezed as his heart was beating like a marathon runner. He gave a very quick nod and wiped the dripping sweat off of his forehead. He signed if anyone had a bottle of water handy.

"Sorry, bro, forgot to bring any."

"Well, that's not--"Gordon had to stop for a couple breaths, then signed again. "\--that's not important. What is important is we find your father. He might be up there. "

Gordon pointed up above. There were various mechanical devices, which looked like metal coffins. The walls were metallic, though not as dirty as the previous section of Nova Prospekt. It somehow felt more empty and hollow, more lifeless. Alyx nodded her head in response to Gordon.

"Let's get out of here."

"Roger that, Alyx."

The three of them went to the door, which was entirely made of metallic sheets with a device wired up to it. Gordon tried to push it, but it wouldn't budge. John tried as well, with the same outcome: nothing happened. Alyx then pulled out a device out of her pocket. It looked like an electric screwdriver. Alyx turned it on, causing an electric spark to shoot out. When she was finished, the door opened up. Alyx put the device back into her pocket, and walked on through. The trio eventually reached an elevator, which didn't require Alyx's "screwdriver". The elevator opened up, and the three stepped inside. Gordon immediately passed out, slamming his face against the floor. Alyx and John recoiled as the HEV Suit activated yet again.

"MINOR FRACTURE. DETECTED."

Alyx and John looked at each other, then stepped over Gordon. The elevator closed and slowly moved up.

"So, John, what's Gordon like?"

John paused. He never really gave it much thought before. He looked up, thinking about all the memories that flooded his mind. Of him and Gordon playing tag in the field, them always getting into all sorts of shenanigans and having to be dragged home by their dad, them always visiting Doctor C. every once in a while just to help out with his oddball experiments. He smiled as he described Gordon to Alyx.

"He doesn't really say much. Well, _convey_ much. He's kind of quiet, keeps to himself. We do tend to argue, usually over small, dumb things. But he does have a big heart. He's always seen the best in people and wants to see them succeed no matter what it takes. Hell, I've had to save him a couple times because he wanted to "be the hero" for someone. He doesn't really like the idea of not being able to help everyone. And he's pretty smart, too. He always manages to find creative solutions to things that seem impossible. He's...he's honestly the best brother I could ever ask for."

Alyx grinned as she listened in. The elevator suddenly stops, and Alyx pulls a pistol out of one of her pockets. John pulls out his revolver, now filled with ammo.

"Get ready."

John nodded. Gordon woke up from his dazed sleep, wondering what happened since he last passed out. He slowly got up, the room spinning around him. It took a moment for his eyes to fully adjust. When they did, he looked around and saw Alyx and John with grimaced looks on their faces.

"Hey, guys! What happened while I was gone? ...Guys?"

Gordon looked out into the halls, and saw the most horrific thing in his entire life. Corpses were strewn about the hall, each with blood soaking them. They all had limbs torn from their bodies, each dripping with even more blood. They looked to have been Combine, indicated by the white, broken masks left behind and the scratched up suits. The walls were covered with scratch marks and blood splattered all over the walls, indicating the Combine must have fought something horrific and even more powerful than them. There were also dead Headcrabs, indicating that this was not the work of any Zombie or Zombine. John uttered the only thing that everyone was having on their minds.

"_**Holy shit.**_"

"Yeah, no kidding. Something must've smashed through those Combine like they were nothing."

Gordon gulped. The thought of seeing whatever rampaged through those soldiers terrified him. Sure, he had seen weirder things at Black Mesa and much weirder at Zen, but they were minor threats and able to be dealt with very easily. This. This was not something Gordon was sure he was able to kill or even deal damage to. The thought of that...abomination ran through Gordon's mind. Was that what killed them? But that's impossible. Father Grigori already exploded it; surely it can't survive that big of an explosion...right? Gordon's eyes widened as he thought of the thing being able to regenerate. No, it can't be...can it? It would make sense, but, surely... Alyx interrupted Gordon's train of thought.

"Alright, we need to be careful. Whoever or whatever slaughtered those Combine might still be alive, so we'll need to be quiet. Got it?"

Gordon and John nervously nodded. They slowly made their way through. Each section of the room presented a devastating picture of what happened inside. There was a knocked down fence that a Combine was laying down on; holes the size of boulders punched into the walls; broken pieces of concrete scattered all over. There was also the addition of blood and scratch marks, which was somehow even more than before. They were about to explore the rest of the area when the thought-to-be-dead Combine suddenly came to life. This caused Gordon to instinctively point his gun at the soldier. Alyx intervened and let the Combine fully awaken. The soldier looked at Gordon, with his helmet malfunctioning constantly, causing some of his speech to be corrupted.

"**It doesn't matter--**" Static sounded through the helmet. "**\--thing will kill us all anyway. ******"

********

Alyx leaned herself over to the barely conscious Combine and asked what happened here and what exactly this "thing" is. 

********

"**Thing killed themthemthem. Left me to ȓ̸̖̙̬͚̪̥̺̫̩̂o̷̲̪̲̗͙̥͓̬̲̤̻͍̺̖͆̊͊̏͆̿͋̄͐t̷̲͓͋̈͒̃̌̊͛͌͗͑̈́ ̴̠̜̦̥͔̖̔̉̈́͂̐̐̌̏̿̋̍̉̚͜͝h̵̡̧̡̭̹̼̝̞͙̘̝̜̟̼̭̑e̶̗̲̼͇̮̝͊͐́̾̂̃́̚r̵̨̹̖̫͖̎͗͐̓̈́̚͠ę̵̧̺͙̹̞̥͂̓͐̃͑̈́̉̏͝͠ͅ. Can't**" Again, static filled his helmet. "**\--move. Legs c-c-c-crushed. It hurts so much.**"

"Okay, but what exactly attacked you and your men? What kind of thing left you to rot he--"

"Not "thing". H̴̨̛͚͉̠͇͎̭̜̜͈̥̳̿̉̽̈̄͐I̷̧̠̲̰͓̯̹̥͖̰͙̮̓̄M̴̧̢̪̖̥̗͈̠̰͔̝̼̮̻͆̈̑̃̍͑̃̓́̈́̋͝͝͝͝."

Alyx was taken aback by this. Him? What did he mean by "him"? Alyx wasn't ready for what the wounded soldier had to say next.

"**Moint Pan. Old soldier sent by--**" Static filled his helmet. This time, the soldier was fed up with the constant interruptions, and ripped the helmet off of his head, revealing him to be an purple alien creature. Several tentacles bursted out of the suit, though none of them functional. He had no eyes, but had a long jaw with several rows of teeth. It spoke again, this time with no static or corrupted voices. **Moint Pan. He was one of the most violent, power-hungry men of our squad. He could kill anyone given the chance and the money. We always joked that he was the 'Combine Rambo' during the Black Mesa incident. That was, until _you_ showed up and took out most of us.** He pointed to Gordon, causing him to jump a bit. The alien coughed, spewing green blood onto the floor, then continued his explanation. "**When word got to Moint, he was _pissed_. He started devoting his entire life to hunting Freeman down, even going against our orders just to try and kill him. Eventually, we just gave up trying to stop him and just let him go. When the Combine began their--well, _our_ takeover, there was an experimental serum to enhance the abilities of any person. Super speed, strength, you name it. One day, we--as in the Combine--decided to have a test subject for our little experiment. We decided to bring back Moint. Moint was enthusiastic; he thought this would finally be an opportunity to kill Freeman and take his revenge. We injected the serum into Moint. Moint felt the effects almost immediately. He could run as fast as a cheetah; punch as hard as a fucking jackhammer, etc. We thought the serum worked perfectly. That was...until one of the Combine helped escort Moint out of the test chamber. Moint complained that he felt sick, which we ignored, thinking that it was just some benign side effect of the serum. ...I wish it was. Moint screamed, and we noticed that there were arms suddenly growing out of his back. His body then began to grow rapidly, sprouting flesh and veins from every part of himself. There were faces forming all over him, each one screaming as loud as he was. The screams; it's something no one can truly forget. Soon, Moint became nothing more than a giant mass of twisted flesh and a hulking monster. My men tried unloading at Moint, but their weapons didn't even leave a scratch on it. One swipe from its melded hands was all it took to wipe out some of them. The only option to kill it was using the RPG. It fired, and left a giant hole in the center of it. We got covered by its "blood", which caused some of us to mutate like Moint. But whatever Pan was didn't die from the explosion. No, when we sent some of the Elites to clean up the facility, its body just...healed itself. Like it was a goddamn starfish. It didn't take long for it to almost wipe out most of the Elites and completely decimate Nova Prospekt. If you see him, _run._ It's already too late for me. I'm...losing air... **"

The Combine struggled to breathe, then collapsed. The suit beeped, indicating that they died. The three all looked at each other with disbelief as they were taking in the situation. Gordon was internally screaming as he realized that Moint was still alive and probably out for blood.

"Let's get a move on," said a still determined Alyx. 

John and Gordon nodded. They walked until they found a partially broken terminal. The terminal looked something out of a sci-fi movie; it had multiple screens with lists of captured citizens inside small, cramped pods. They all had assigned numbers which was "horrible" according to Alyx. There were lots of large buttons and electronics probably used for something not too pleasant. Alyx typed onto the attached keyboard, which made a pop up appear. It showed the images of citizens contained within the cells and scrolled until Alyx stopped on what looked to be an elderly black man.

_There!_

John looked...puzzled.

"Wait, that's your _dad _?__"

____

"Yep. He worked at Black Mesa for a little bit before he moved to City 17. Most of his friends just call him 'Eli' or Mr. Vance."

____

Alyx activated the pod. On the screen, it showed the pod being lifted by a piston and hung on a conveyor belt. It pulled the pod offscreen. Alyx and the others then looked out into the glass window. Sure enough, they saw Eli's pod being carried to somewhere out of sight. 

"He's on the way; let's go meet him."

The three walked out of the room and got to where what could have been a scanner or some sort of force field might have been. Instead, there was a smashed collection of metal, wires, and electronic pieces. The machine sparked every few seconds; a sad reminder of what had happened in the now abandoned complex. They walked down the hall, and John had something on his mind.

"Hey, bro. You know how there's like a rebellion going on and how we're trying to invade this place? How come there's no one else here? Shouldn't it have been raided by now?"

Gordon was about to answer when a body flew down a flight of stairs in front of them. The sudden appearance of the person stunned the trio. The man looked to be in his 30s, probably older. He was bald, and had what looked to be a scar on his left cheek. Their legs appeared to be twisted and bent in various directions. The man turned to them and uttered the words "help me" before a giant mass of hands stretched down the stairs, grabbed the man by the legs, and dragged him up the stairway. There was the sound of screaming followed by a loud crunching and sounds of flesh being torn into. The three froze in fear as they saw the newly regenerated Moint Pan jump down the stairs and land, cracking the ground around him and roaring ferociously. The beast looked even more terrifying than the Freeman brothers' last encounter. It had formed a new group of heads, each with black, soulless eyes and jagged, bloody teeth. Its main head still had the lower half of the man in its jaws, chewing it like a piece of steak. Its eyes were open wide, but appeared to be glazed over and dripping with black tears. Its "arms" now had claws on each finger, each drenched in what looked to be a mix of blood, acid, and gunpowder. The monster sniffed the air, and dragged its gigantic mass over to the gang. They were all too scared to make any sorts of movements. Alyx mouthed out the words "don't move" as the thing leaned its body over her. Alyx cringed as it started to sniff her with all of its heads. The hulking mass stopped sniffing Alyx and leaned back. Alyx opened her eyes to see the beast turn around and start to heave itself back down the hall.

"_**NO. FREEMAN.**_" Its speech was severely limited, possibly from the mutation it suffered damaging a bit of its brain. 

It sulked away, leaving the three of them standing in the hall. There was an eerie silence among them as they watched whatever that was smash through the doorway with ease.

"Do you think it's gone,"whispered John. 

Gordon signed a very uncertain "maybe".

"Well, we'll just have to be careful and not make too much noise."

The group cautiously walked through the halls, being as slow and quiet as they possibly could. The torn-up bodies of several Combine soldiers were spread all through the long halls along with the blood being splattered in various directions. There were flickering lights up above, which made the scene all the more disturbing. They got to a corner and cautiously peered around it. There was an open room with a large blood splatter leading out of it. Definitely not going in there. Alyx was the first one brave enough to walk to one of the electronic doors. She had her hand on her pistol, ready in case any Combine decide to ambush her. When she got there, she drew her pistol in both directions, then gave the all-clear. John and Gordon hesitantly sneaked over to Alyx.

"Should be in here."

"I hope so."

Alyx activated the door, which shorted a bit before it finally swung open. There was a glass window overlooking the many thousands of trapped people, with Eli's pod very close by. There was also a terminal next to the window, which probably controlled the direction the pods would go.

"Let's see if I can get it open."

After fiddling around with the controls, sure enough, Eli's containment pod opened to reveal him trapped inside. Eli woke out of his stasis and saw Alyx inside.

"Alyx! And...Gordon? Is that really you? And you brought your little brother."

John was pretty used to everyone calling him Gordon's "little brother." The more important matter on John's mind, besides trying to get out of Nova Prospekt, was being able to meet Eli Vance face-to-face for the first time.

"Yes, Mr. Vance, it's me. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine; don't worry about me. You need to get out of here."

"Sorry, Mr. Vance, we are not leaving you behind."

"Dad, I think I can recalibrate the Combine portal to get us out of here."

"But, where will you go?"

"Dr. Kleiner should have a portal active back at his lab. If we can get the Combine portal up and running, we can get ourselves--"

Alyx's explanation was cut short by a sudden bellowing. Several Combine soldiers are heard running down the halls away from whatever they're scared of, firing their guns in the opposite direction toward it. Moint could be heard screeching and swiping its limbs sporadically, causing many of the Combine to scream in terror. When the mutated abombination was out of earshot, Eli asked what was that thing was.

"It's... basically a mutated guy who wanted revenge on Gordon and is now out for blood. I'll explain it more when we meet up. I love you, dad."

"Love you, too, pumpkin."

Alyx reclosed the pod, which was sent away soon after.

"Let's get out of here."

"Roger that." John gave a little salute. 

The door opened to what the three might have expected: bodies of torn apart Combine thrown across the floor with a large excess of blood and scratch marks. Alyx led them over to an electronically locked door, which she unlocked using her electric device.

"I'm gonna head back to the security station and try to patch into Gordon's suit radio. As for John--" Alyx pulls out a headset from her pocket and hands it to John. John puts it on his head, which squishes his cap a little. "\--you're gonna want to need that. Take care of yourselves."

Gordon took a deep breath, and through the hall, shotgun ready. John looked at Gordon, then turned back to give a send-off. The walls felt like a janitor's closet: cramped, wet, and covered with pipes. There were wood shards all over the floor, all appearing to have been smashed to pieces. The headset John was wearing started to pick up static, then switched over to Alyx's feed.

"Hey, it worked! Let's see if I can clear the way for you two, if that thing didn't already. Keep an eye out for Mossman, see if she's still alive. I'll catch up with you two."

"Loud and clear, over."

Alyx groaned, then shut off the feed. The Freemen walked up some stairs to a very bent and slightly unhinged metallic door. Gordon slowly pushed the door open, which suddenly caused the hinges to break and slam forward. The sound of metal slapping against the concrete floor reverberated off of the walls. John and Gordon took a quick glance around, then breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Moint wasn't chasing after them. They entered inside what looked to be an entrance to a lobby. Through the large bend in the gate, they could see a soda machine and the window to what was presumably a corner office. Alyx's face was visible on one of the monitors, looking at something offscreen. She takes a look, then frowns.

"Looks like the gate's too busted to get it open. Gordon, you still have that Gravity Gun?"

With a wide smile, Gordon pulled out his trusty Zero-point Energy Field Manipulator, also known as the Gravity Gun. The gun's pincers opened up, and with a press of the trigger, caused the gun to pull the gate off the hinges only a few inches from Gordon's face.. John's mouth was wide open as Gordon switched the weapon to its second function.

"Uh, **how?**"

Gordon smiled.

"Lots and lots of practice."

Gordon pressed the trigger once more, shooting the gate across the hall, decimating it in the process. Gordon took a few steps, then turned to see John rendered speechless near where the broken gate once was.

"You coming?"

"Uhhh, _yeah_ , sure, bro."

The Freemen walked down the halls, noticing the now ripped posters on the walls and the empty rooms that were once used for storage. They made it to another gate, this time with it completely destroyed, leaving bent metal thrown aside. Gordon gulped, then stepped forwards into the darkness. John waited for a bit, then saw Gordon sneak back to John. Gordon's eyes were wide open and John could see the fear in his eyes. Gordon hurriedly signed the name Moint, indicating that Moint was somewhere down the halls either roaming or standing there.

"Alright, let's try some other route. There should be some schematics in that office that have...a vent behind one of the cabinets."

John and Gordon walked to the office and found two cabinets side-by-side of each other. John nodded to Gordon, and the two pulled the left cabinet out of the way. They saw a ventilation cover and, with a large amount of brute force, were able to pull it open. John climbed into the vent, with his brother following alongside him. It was cold and felt isolating to the brothers, even though they knew they weren't alone. They spotted a dying headcrab lying on its side, scraping its claws on the ground in a desperate attempt at movement. John pulled out pistol, and shot the headcrab, causing it to screech before ultimately becoming limp. Another headcrab jumped past John and Gordon, running for its dear life and ignoring them all together. This was not a good sign. The two reached a dropoff, and John slid down it. He landed with a soft thud and spotted a vent cover just up ahead. John crawled up to it and lifted the vent cover slightly upwards, giving him a perfect view of the surroundings ahead.

"Be careful, guys, I'm picking up a lot of Combine sensors ahead."

"Hopefully they don't want to kill us this time."

John stepped out of the vent and looked around. There was a large amount of gunpowder and blood where he was stepping on, as well as a bent metal fence. Surprisingly, the few barrels that were left behind were largely intact, with only a few scratch marks and traces of blood visible on it. John spotted something out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see a scared headcrab only a couple meters away. As soon as John spotted it, it ran behind one of the intact barrels.

"Headcrabs normally don't run away from you... _right?_"

Gordon opened the vent cover and signed to John.

"No. They usually attack anybody that breathes. This is not normal head-crab behavior. Something must have frightened them."

"No kidding," noted John as he saw the cowering headcrab shiver. 

Gordon lifted himself out of the vents and followed John as they reached the next gate...or what was _left_ of it, that is. The two stepped over the busted gate and found themselves inside a dimly lit room. The light appeared to come from one of the nearby offices, illuminating its broken windows and the pool of blood dripping from the sharp glass. The two were about to walk away when they heard a radio blaring from one of the inactive engines, followed by a shushing sound. The two immediately recognized it as a Combine and drew their weapons. John yelled for the Combine to come out with its hands in the air. The Combine stepped out from behind the engine, its arms raised in the air. The light showed the Combine's armor cracking and broken in various places, its helmet worn and covered in scratch marks, and its legs bruised and beaten. The soldier looked like it had been through hell and back. While Gordon felt bad for the poor fellow, John was not convinced.

"What's your name?"

The Combine sighed.

"ALEX."

"Your name is Alex?"

"YES."

"Alright, Alex, what are you doing down here."

"MY SQUAD WAS SENT TO PERFORM A CLEANUP OF NOVA PROSPEKT, BUT WAS ATTACKED BY WHAT WAS PREVIOUSLY MOINT. I HID BEHIND THERE," Alex gestured to the engines, "AND HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR BACKUP TO ARRIVE. BUT THEY NEVER SHOWED UP."

"How do we know you're not lying to us? And how did you know about Moint anyway? You weren't there!"

Alex pressed a button on his helmet, which played a recording of the last events Alex went through. There was the voice of someone giving orders to "clean" Nova Prospekt to an unnamed group. Gordon signed "Breen," which Alex gave a nod to. There were a few moments of Alex talking about how the facility smelled like a garbage dump, which his friends chuckle at. A screaming echoed nearby, which prompted Alex to investigate. A brief pause, followed by an intense screech sent Alex running out of whatever room he was in. Alex fired a few rounds at the screaming monster, which was recognized to be Moint, then ran to somewhere. There was the muffled sound of gunfire, followed by screaming coming both from Moint and some of the men Alex was with. There were sounds of bones crunching and the swipe of a large object, then silence. Alex let go of the button, which stopped the transmission. 

"I ALSO RECIEVED THE TRANSMISSION FROM ONE OF THE DYING COMBINE. I DON'T BELIEVE I NEED TO PLAY THAT ONE."

"...Alright, we believe you. For now."

John lowered the gun, and Alex put down his arms in relief. Gordon, was a bit hesitant, but it probably was better than getting crushed or sliced by Moint. Besides, if it turned out Alex was lying, they could always just 

"Do you know the way out," asked John. 

"YES. I HAVE MEMORIZED THE SCHEMATICS FOR NOVA PROSPEKT IN CASE MY SQUAD EVER GOT LOST. THERE SHOULD BE A WAY OUT FROM HERE."

"What about you?"Gordon was showing concern over this new ally. 

"I'VE ALREADY SERVED MY PURPOSE."As he said this, he pulled his SMG out of his holster and posed dramatically."NOW IT'S TIME TO SERVE YOURS."

John gave a "fucking seriously" look at Gordon. Gordon shrugged in response. Alex led the two along the journey, disabling a few turrets along the way and being disgusted by the graphic sights of Alex's fellow Combine being ripped apart by Moint. Alex shook his head, which was all he could do at this moment. Eventually, they reached a glitching force field, which was being generated by a machine inside a one window space the size of a cubical. Gordon sighed and pulled out his SMG. Alex put his arm out in front of Gordon, which caught him offguard. Alex had other plans.

"STAND ASIDE, GORDON. I'M ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING CRAZY."

Before Gordon and John could ask what exactly he meant by "crazy", Alex took a few steps back, then sprinted and jumped through the window, shattering it and knocking the plug out of the machine in the process. The force field suddenly shorted, then shut off. Gordon and John simultaneously facepalmed. Alex then did another tactical roll through the window, which caused the Freeman brothers to double facepalm.

"NAILED IT."

Gordon and John walked through the now disabled force field and into the small office space. Alex did a jumping tactical roll through the window, causing John to give a "are you fucking joking" face. They all reached a corner, then were stopped by Alex as he peered around.

"Seriously, dude? What is your _prob--_"

Alex shushed him.

"TURRETS UP AHEAD. COVER ME."

"'Cover me.' W-what?"

Alex performed a somersault and tackled a turret, which knocked it over and caused it to start firing at the ceiling. The brothers watched as this weirdo tried to snap the turret's "neck" with his bear hands.

"Dude," shouted John, "it's a turret."

"YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL WITH THESE THINGS."

Alex then picked up the turret and threw it down at some more turrets, knocking them down bowling-pin style. Alex then pointed at the turrets triumphantly, which Gordon and John did not care for in the slightest. They eventually reached a gate open to a set of stairs and entered into a room filled with electronic devices and whatnot. Suddenly, Gordon's suit radio started blasting static, then Alyx's voice came through the radio speakers.

"Alright, signal's back online. Something must've jammed it. You should be heading for the control room just up ahead. I'm getting a few readings here; looks like there might be some survivors nearby."

Alex immediately pressed a button on his chest, then talked directly to Alyx as if she was his leader. Gordon and John exchanged glances as they were wondering what Alex was doing.

"SURVIVOR ALEX OF THE COMBINE ARMY, REPORTING."

"Uh...hi? This is Alyx, reporting from the control room...?"

"DO YOU SEE MOINT ON ANY OF THE CAMERA SYSTEMS?"

"Uh...no doesn't look like it--"

The suit radio suddenly cut to static, then shut off to the surprise of the trio. Gordon tapped the radio, which didn't really do anything. The three looked around looking for the "survivors" Alyx previously mentioned. _CRASH!_ A Combine smashed through the window, sliding across the floor and stopping at the trio's feet. They looked down at the Combine, and saw that its head was completely ripped off, leaking blood all over the ground. They slowly lifted their heads, and locked eyes with Moint through the shattered glass. Despite Moint being blind, he stared right into all their souls as his humongous body created a large shadow overcasting the crew+. They gave a bloodcurdling scream and backed up as far as possible away from this mistake of nature as possible. They all bumped into the futuristic computer behind them, causing a prerecorded message to play. Gordon turned to look at it, and saw a woman (who appeared to be "Mossman", according to an offscreen Breen) talking about how Eli was "too tempting of a prize to send loose". John tapped Gordon's shoulder as they saw Moint staring past them and at the message onscreen. Then, when Breen mentions being able to capture Gordon as well, Moint went apeshit. It fully broke through the glass panel and cracked through the wall, now charging at high speeds. Alex shoved the two out of the way as the thing lifted its gigantic mass of a fist, slammed down, and crumpled the computer to bits. That was their cue to get the hell out of there. They bolted down the stairs and kept running as the thing was now on "all fours" gaining on the gang. They drifted past a corner, and increased their speed until they reached a door. John kicked it open, allowing Alex and Gordon to bolt through it and get a head start down the winding steps. Alex climbed over the railing and jumped down, nailing the three-point landing. Gordon tried his best to not fall head first down the stairs. John was using whatever materials were scattered around to barricade the door. As soon John was finished, he took off, hoping to catch up with the other two. All of them heard Moint pounding against the now blocked off door, listening as they could hear the cement being chipped away and the barricade being decimated. The three met up, with Alex ramming the downstairs door open with his shoulder. They entered through the door, and heard the sounds of smashed concrete and metal upstairs. They stopped at the bottom of some stairs, and looked out to see the area flooded and electrified. At first, they didn't know where else to go. Then, much to John and Alex's surprise, Gordon quickly jumped onto the nearby pipes and leaped onto the platform ahead. He ran down, and kicked himself off of the wall onto another platform. John...was stunned. He couldn't perform something that required so much flexibility in that short amount of time. How in the hell was he supposed to get across? Suddenly, Alex swept John into his arms.

"Uh, dude, now's not the time for a romantic--WAIT WHAT ARE YOU--!"

Alex carried John as he jumped from pipe to pipe before finally landing right next to Gordon. Alex set John down, and cleared his throat.

"So, how did you--?"

"THREE YEARS OF ATHLETICS TRAINING FOLLOWED BY ONE OF EVACUATION TACTICS. GLAD TO KNOW THAT FINALLY PAID OFF."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds.

"Agree to never tell anyone about this?"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"Agreed."

The three were about to head to the next room when Moint's ugly body crashed through the door, sending it flying before finally landing inside the high voltage water. At first, breathed a sigh of relief as they thought Moint was blocked off by the electrified water. As Moint climbed one of the attached pipes, Gordon had a curiosity that he needed to be answered.

"Hey, Alex, have you tried using electric weapons on Moint?"

"YES. EVERY ATTEMPT MADE TO DETAIN MOINT, INCLUDING ELECTRICITY, HAS BEEN FOUND "UTTERLY USELESS"."

One of the pipes Moint was hanging onto bent, then broke off, sending Moint into the electric river below. Despite the surge of energy engulfing it, Moint lifted itself up, and roared at the gang. That was enough to send the three bolting out of the room and down the long corridor. They then ran up a flight of stairs, and heard Moint close by. Gordon spotted a door near one of the stairs, and noticed that, along with it being slightly ajar, was home to a completely empty room, with only a few intact boxes inside. Gordon grabbed John and Alex and ran toward the room, much to the confusion of the two. Gordon then shut the door, leaving the three wondering what he's doing. He motioned for the two to be quiet, and listened as Moint rushed up the rickety stairs, past the door, and getting further away. When the coast was clear, Gordon peeked his head, and signaled that it was clear to leave. Gordon, John, and Alex stepped out into the stairway, and groaned when they saw the stairs leading up the next floor had been too bent to be able to climb up. While Gordon and John tried to figure out how to progress though this nightmare, Alex immediately pulled one of the boards from inside the empty room apart. Immediately, the two were puzzled at Alex's decision.

"Uh, dude--" asked John, "\--what are you doing?"

Alex ignored them and continued pulling boards out. Alex, with enough boards pulled out from the room, kicked into the wall, which created a giant hole big enough for the three to enter from. Alex motioned for them to come take a look. Gordon and John entered into the room and saw that there was now an entrance leading to another section of the new Nova Prospekt.

"How exactly did you--"

"I JUST TOOK A WILD GUESS AND WENT FROM THERE."

Now the Freemen started to wonder what would've happened if Alex was wrong in his assumption. The trio walked through the facility, noting the various cells and deteriorating paint that was probably once very classy and organized. They climbed over the fence and jumped down to a lower part of the facility, and were immediately assaulted by several Combine soldiers. The soldiers pinned Gordon and John to the floor and had all of their guns drawn. They were confused as they spotted Alex with his hands raised in the midst of the conflict.

"**Hold your fire.**"

The soldiers did as they were told, though many of them reluctant to do so. One of the unnamed soldiers clearly had a history with Alex, as he addressed him directly.

"**What do you think you're doing going against protocol.**"

"SIR, FREEMAN WAS--"

"**I don't _care_ what Freeman did; _you_ were supposed to keep the rebels from getting in Nova Prospekt, but you failed in every single aspect. And now, these pathetic excuses of men have infiltrated our facility under _your_** [The soldier pointed to Alex.] **supervision.**"

"MITCHELL, SIR, MY MEN WERE ATTACKED BY THE EXPERIMENT, WE-- "

"**Had no other choice. Like when you allowed your men to use that serum on my brother and made everything go to shit?**"

Gordon and John gave each other the "oh shit" look as they realized this history seemed to be a lot deeper than they first believed. They had to think of some way to get out of this situation and not have their heads blown off. Another soldier then approached Mitchell with some dire news. Mitchell listened as the desperate Combine relayed the information to him. Mitchell then gave a smug expression to Alex.

"**Well, well, looks like you're off the hook. For now. Alright men, let's spread out and contain this thing.**"

All of the soldiers saluted Mitchell, with the exception of Alex. The two soldiers that had pinned down the Freemen let go and followed Mitchell and his squad. The two watched as Alex turned to look at them, then followed the rest of the soldiers. They got up, brushing some of the dust off of their shoulders. The sounds of gunfire and a hellish scream was the Freemen's cue to leave. As they left, Gordon's suit radio and John's headphones started to pick up something. Suddenly, they heard Alyx's voice coming from the other end!

"Alright. Finally got it working again. I'll be right there."

They snuck past Mitchell and his men, who were firing their weapons at Moint, hoping to show it down some. They made it to a terminal next to a metal gate, and slumped down in exhaustion. They suddenly screamed when Alyx suddenly jumped down right in front of them, then breathed a very heavy sigh of relief.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you guys."

"It's fine. We're used to it."

"But, please, for the love of God, never do that again."

"Noted. Now, let's track down Mossman."

Alyx walked up to the monitor and used her electronic device on the terminal, which caused the gate to open.

"Come on!"

As the Freemen walked down the narrow, spiraling steps with Alyx, they could hear someone over the intercom announcing something. It was too muffled to make out. They reached the double door, which had not been smashed or bent by Moint yet.

"Hey, where's Alex?"

Gordon sighed.

"He went with his men to go fight Moint."

"...Oh. Let's hope he makes it out alright."

The three began running through the slightly dark corridor with boxes and metal carts all strewn about. The light up ahead of them suddenly shut off, causing the trio to stop in their tracks. Then, one by one, all the lights in the room turned off. There was a brief moment of pitch-black darkness before several flares created a red glow, illuminating the large number of Combine now present inside.

"Uh oh."

The three took cover behind a few of the left behind materials and started unloading into the Combine as they tried to kill the gang. Bullets whooshed past them, barely coming close to hitting their shoulders and heads.

"WHY ARE THEY TRYING TO KILL US?! WEREN'T THEY ON OUR SIDE BEFORE?!"

"I don't know, but we need to keep shooting!"

The fighting continued for what felt like an eternity, ducking behind corners and walls as they took shots at the Combine. Eventually, they managed to wipe out all of the soldiers in the room. Gordon and John were out of breath and tired from all the gunfight that they endured. Alyx, meanwhile, was determined as ever to find Mossman as soon as possible.

"Come on!"

Alyx reached the top of the stairs and looked down them to see the Freeman brothers trying desperately to climb up them, sweating and panting with each successful step. Alyx felt bad for putting them through so much stress, and helped carry them up the stairs. They found a "security station", where a giant terminal with a accompanying screen laid. As Alyx was trying to access the terminal, the Freeman brothers rested by the terminal and started discussing with one another.

"Hey, bro...?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think this "Mossman" girl is even worth all the trouble? I mean, we had to fight through all this bullshit just to even know who she was. Wouldn't it be better if we just go home and--"

"COME ON, GUYS!"

The three groaned, and followed Alyx into a very mechanical room, with a gray hue present in all aspects. Alyx sealed the door behind them, then John noticed a window on one of the walls. John pointed to it, and the Freemen brothers spotted what appeared to be Mossman working on something on a terminal.

"Pardon my language, John, but I think that might be the son of a bitch Alyx's looking for."

"...Yyyep. Definitely matches with what we've seen so far."

Alyx commentated from behind them.

"There she is. Let me do the talking. We may need her to get out of here."

Alyx knocked on the window, causing Mossman to turn around.

"_Hello?_ Oh, thank God someone's here."

Mossman approached the window, and Alyx slyly waved at her. Gordon crossed his arms, which caused John to shrug nervously in a sort of awkward apology.

"_Alyx?_ Gordon--how did you get here?"

"We all know about you and Breen!"

"_What?_"

"You've been a spy for the Combine **the whole time!**"

"What? What are you _talking_ about?"

A sudden explosion from nearby caused Gordon and John to jump.

"DAMMIT! Stand back, Mossman, we're coming in!"

Mossman backed out of the window as Alyx pulled out her device. The device caused the door to slowly open. The three stepped inside, with Alyx moving closer to Mossman.

"Alyx, whatever you may think, I assure you; I have worked hard to _protect_ your father."

"SHUT UP AND BE GLAD YOU'RE SOME USE TO US."

The Freemen were shocked. They didn't expect this sort of behavior coming from Alyx, especially not with this much anger and malice behind it. John leaned over and whispered to Gordon about it.

"Yeesh. And I thought I had anger problems."

"To be fair, she was the one who kidnapped Eli and basically manipulated her."

"...We're going to get tricked by her, aren't we?"

"Probably."

After the apparently heated conversation between Mossman, Alyx successfully located Eli.

"Look, Gordon, there's my dad; I'm gonna bring him in. John, you keep a close eye on Mossman."

"Will do."

John pulled out his shotgun, and gave a sly smile at Mossman.

"Oh, you found Eli?"

"No thanks to **you!** Just enter the coordinates for Dr. Kleiner's lab and let's get moving."

John had a strong feeling that he had been through this whole thing before...like it repeated itself once before, only with slight changes present. But that was impossible. He hadn't experienced anything like this in his entire life...unless...?

"Let's get going."

Alyx's command snapped John out of his trance. He walked with the rest of them and got to the teleporter. John...was astonished. He hadn't seen anything like this in his entire life; the grated platform was nothing compared to the mile-long monster. It was laced, no, covered with all kinds of machinery. It was like a giant snake inside of a mountain of metal crystals. It was something John had never seen before. Looking at Gordon's face, it was apparent that the thing made him light up. Gordon was signing at breakneck speed, "voicing" his excitement and absolute joy over the marvels of the teleporter. Alyx and Mossman were having a discussion about something about how the teleporter works that John lacked the knowledge to comprehend. Afterwards, Eli descended from a conveyor belt right above them. The pod Eli was contained in opened up, showing him still inside it.

"Dad, we came here for you. Sorry it took so long, I hope it wasn't too bad for you."

"That's alright, sweetheart. _Judith!_"

There was a muffled roar coming from beyond the sealed door, followed by screaming and the sound of cracking bones. John seemed to be the only one that heard it, as everyone else was more concerned with activating the portal. John looked and saw Eli being run into the teleporter.

"So _this_ is the Combine portal, it's smaller than I imagined."

Now Gordon and John could hear loud banging and the horrific scream of Moint coming from the other side of the gate. The Freemen were now motioning for Alyx to hurry up. Alyx couldn't see them, as she was discussing with Dr. Kleiner about the teleportation location. Suddenly, an alarm sounded near one of the terminals. Alyx went to address it, and as she did, Mossman ran into the teleporter with Eli inside. John and Gordon noticed this, and immediately ran after Mossman.

"Hey! _Stop!_"

John ran face-first into the teleporter, and bonked his nose on the force field. Alyx and Gordon rushed over to see what was happening, with Gordon kneeling beside John to help with his now bloody nose and Alyx trying desperately to stop Mossman from activating the teleporter. The teleporter lifts Mossman and Eli up, and zaps them away to Dr. Kleiner's lab. The three look on in stunned silence, taking in what just happened. Then...  


"FREEMAN!"

The metallic door keeping Moint Pan from coming in suddenly busts open, shooting across the room and landing not too far from the teleporter. The thumps of Moint's fleshy body got closer, and closer, until the three could finally see the blood-stained, vein-ridden monstrosity standing inside the room. The monster then bellowed with an anger not seen before, causing the crew to cover their ears. The Freemen brothers then stared for a moment at this hulking giant, wondering what it was going to do next. The monster then began charging at the three at high speeds. Alyx immediately went to work on getting the teleporter up and running again, telling the Freemen to "keep them busy".

"WITH WHAT?!"

"You have guns...?"

Gordon and John looked down at their respective shotgun and SMG in their hands. 

"...Oh."

The two then ran behind Moint and fired a shot into his back. It roared in pain and started "running" toward the two of them. They ran around the room, very careful not to let the other trip or get too close to the teleporter. Alyx was working her ass off on the terminal, 

"And... _GO!_"

The brothers then split up, causing the monster to run face first into the wall. The monster's face was now leaking whatever substance its body considered "blood". It was now running to random directions around the room, slamming its fists against the wall hoping to crush whichever one of them. Gordon and John were on the complete opposite side of the room, holding back laughter as they watched this mutated freak of nature aimlessly swipe around like a cat. They saw the monster getting more and more upset and begin to roar ferociously after each failed attempt. Alyx gave a small chuckle as well, and eventually, everyone burst into laughter. Tears flowed down the three's faces as the entire room roared with cackles and the like. The three slowly stopped laughing, and the Freemen brothers looked up to see Moint stare down at them with venomous rage. They smiled nervously, and barely dodged a swipe from the beast's "claws". They ran and ran, with Gordon stopping and turning away from a wall. John, on the other hand, did something pretty daring. John ran up the wall, did a backflip, and scraped the back of Moint with the crowbar he snatched from Gordon. As he did this, Gordon checked himself to find that the crowbar he previously carried was now gone! The sound of the teleporter activating filled Gordon and John with joy. As soon as the force field opened up and the platform lowered, Alyx stepped inside.

"Come on!"

Gordon and John ran up to the portal, with John getting snagged by Moint. Gordon reached the platform, then noticed John being dragged toward Moint. Gordon tried to reach him, but the force field had already been activated, trapping the two of them inside. John was being gripped by Moint, and could smell the creature's foul breath. John expected Moint to devour him in one bite, but instead, he rushed up to the teleporter's force field, and slammed John against it. The impact shattered part of his shoulder, and made a loud cracking sound. John winced in pain, which the monster laughed at.

"PAIN FOR. FREE MAN."

The teleporter whirred, then suddenly started malfunctioning, turning off and on randomly. The teleporter finally reactivated and started to teleport Gordon and Alyx out of Nova Prospekt. As the Combine Elites started pouring in, Moint reared back, and threw John against the teleporter, breaking it and causing a surge of energy to blast through. There was a white flash for a few seconds, then John's eyes slowly adjusted to the current environment around him. It was...white. Everywhere he looked was just nothing but a bright light flashing in an otherwise empty room. That is, except for the furious Moint chasing after John. John looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon, and paused. John saw what looked to be Gordon and Alyx, only corrupted. Their eyes were filled with static, their bodies were a pale white. Behind them, John could see a sped up video of Gordon and Alyx's memories, with it showing Gordon leading the rebellion against Breen and falling inside Breen's facility. John was dumbfounded. Where the hell were they? Moint then lunged at John, pushing him through the white void. The void shattered like glass, scattering all over as they suddenly found themselves inside of Breen's facility. John was pinned down onto the ground, with Moint's jaw unhinging like a snake and dripping with acidic saliva. Moint suddenly gets hit with a blast of dark energy, and reels back, roaring. John looks up to see Breen smirking at the creature with Gordon's Gravity Gun.

"Heh, Moint, my old friend. What a surprise it is seeing you here like this. Tell me, how did it feel massacring my men in cold blood?"

MOINT BLINK. MOINT'S EYES FEEL FUZZY. BAD MAN. HATE BAD MAN. EVERYthing seems to be much less blurry than before. Moint blinked a few times before his eyes adjusted to the world around him. He felt...happy? It was the first time he felt something else besides anger in so long. He looked around, then his eyes spotted a frightened John laying near Moint. This...wasn't Freeman. This was a completely different person. His brain also felt a lot clearer now, a lot more "human". He remembered his hatred toward Freeman, how he loathed his very existance. Except...there was something else he despised even more. He glared at Breen with keen interest. Breen grew impatient as Moint didn't answer his obviously rhetorical question.

"Well?"

Moint's mind flashed back to when he was being injected with the serum. He looks around the test chamber, and sees Breen watching from a distance behind a glass pane. Breen. He always hated him. Always wanted to smash his little smug face in. His "Freeman" tracking only got him so far, no thanks to Breen's pathetic excuse of "training". As the serum went through his veins, everything went dark. The only thought that existed inside of Moint's mind was to slaughter Freeman at all costs. Breen stood straight up, and looked at Breen with the most malicious expression he had ever made. Breen's blood ran cold as he saw the now bloodshot eyes staring back at him. Moint said the only thing he could ever think about ever since he could actually think for himself.

"**_...Traitor._**"

"What...?"

Moint ran up to Breen, which caused Breen run out of his office and into the elevator. Moint sprinted at an incredible pace, breaking Breen's desk in the process. Breen entered inside, and ascended to the next floor. The doors began to close, but Moint grabbed them and broke them open, causing sparks of electricity to shoot out. Moint climbed up the elevator shaft and up to the next floor. As Mossman was freeing Gordon and Alyx, John suddenly ran after Moint, causing Alyx to ask what he was doing. John ran through the office and jumped into the shaft. At first, everyone assumed that John had fallen to his death. A wall-jumping John soon debunked this. John leaped from wall to wall as fast as he could muster. He eventually reached to where Breen had gotten off, and climbed through the elevator through its torn bottom. John ran to what was once a force field guarding some smashed electronics. John ran and stopped when he saw Moint trying to smash the elevator Breen was descending in. Once Breen was out of view, John popped a question.

"What are you **doing?!**"

"Breen is planning on using Combine technology to escape. I won't let him. There should be a core somewhere down here."

"Wait, what are you--?!"

Before John could ask, Moint lifted his fists into the air and slammed them down, cracking the floor below them. The floor gave way and the two of them managed to land on a platform with a hard thud. The debris managed to not puncture the two of them, and soon got up. They looked around, and spotted Breen inside a glowing orb inside a metallic center. Breen taunted them, which made Moint even angrier.

"When the singularity collapses, I will be far away from here. In another universe, in fact. You, on the other hand, will be destroyed in every possible way it is possible to be destroyed, and even some which are essentially impossible."

John and Moint heard the sounds of Combine running through the core. John saw the Gravity Gun on the ground and noticed that Moint nodded to him. John picked it up, and felt a large wave of dark energy flow through it.

"You take care of Breen. I've got the soldiers."

Breen sprinted and smashed one of the nearby soldiers to pieces. The other Combine, which looked to be a more elite class, fired at him. Moint didn't even flinch and slammed another one into the wall, splashing blood all over the wall and Moint's sinister smile. Moint then took several bites out of the soldier thanks to the many mouths he had. John saw the beams of energy, then looked down at his Gravity Gun, and suddenly got an idea. John took the balls of energy and pulled them with the Gravity Gun, then, fired them back into the room. The energy balls bounced all over the walls, and eventually disintegrated. John took another ball from the same beam, which caused it to turn off. John suddenly had another idea. John went around, narrowly avoiding being crushed and draining the energy from the beams. For every floor, John did the meticulous task of removing every single energy ball from each beam. Moint took it upon himself to absolutely decimate all of the Combine that were sent to kill him. Eventually, all the beams were shut off. John then saw Breen ascending to the top of the teleporter and grew furious.

"How are we supposed to get up there?"

"Leave it to me."

Moint picked up John and placed him on his shoulder.

"**Don't let go.**"

John nodded, and grabbed onto to Moint. Moint then leapt onto the glass container, and dugs his "hands" into it. Then, with every strength in Moint's body, he climbed up the container, shattering some of the glass in the process. They got to the top of the platform, and saw the portal swirling around inside a metal support. John looked up, and saw what looked to be an alternate dimension surrounded by metal foundation and a red sky. They had to stop Breen before it was too late. Combine helicopters then showed up, firing a machine gun at John and Moint. They dodged the bullets, and got behind a long rod just large enough for the two of them. John pulled out his SMG, then looked at the beams creating even more energy balls.

"Y'know what? This gun's too slow. Let's speed up a little, if you catch my drift."

Moint nodded, and John pulled out the modified Gravity Gun. Moint grabbed John by the legs, and threw him toward a Combine helicopter. John then punched the window and the Combine piloting it, causing the helicopter to spin out of control. John then fired an energy ball from his Gravity Gun into the other helicopter, causing it to explode. John then jumped to the center of the platform (with a little help from the GG), and landed right next to Moint. John watched as the teleporter put up a rotating shield and heard an explosion coming from inside the core.

"Go back, Freeman. You have no idea what you're messing with."

John looked to Moint.

"Ready to finish this?"

Moint cracked both of his "knuckles" and gave a sharp-toothed grin. As he did so, several of the mouths roared with anger and joy.

"**Absolutely.**"

Moint then rushed over to the portal, and began tearing it apart, piece by piece. Moint left one for John to fire the very last energy ball into. As he did so, the portal began to shut off.

"No! You don't know what you're doing, you--AGH!"

Moint grabbed Breen and lifted him up to his face.

"Dude, what are you--?"

"**_Taking my revenge against this foul monster for the very last time. I will survive, be he won't._**"

Moint then leaped off of the teleporter, with Breen now being pressed against his chest. The tower keeping the teleporter stabilized suddenly collapsed, causing a large explosion. It would have completely consumed John...if it wasn't for the fact everything now suddenly slowed down to a crawl. John felt his entire body become paralyzed. He recognized this feeling, like it was--

"_Something you recognized, Mister Freeman?_"

The fourth-wall breaking G-Man faded in from the explosion, the same one that appeared in his dreams not so long ago. John was taken aback. This...this was real, the dreams were--

"_More real than you could...imagine. It's interesting that, despite the...rather unorthodox circumstances, you still are the victor in this...shall we say "struggle". Your existence is, quite... remarkable, especially with the "rewrites" that our now dear author decided to expand upon. My employers show a keen interest in this...author. But, that does not matter to you in this...current circumstance._"

John suddenly fell to the floor, now able to move his body again. He brushed himself off, and glared at the G-Man.

"_I understand your frustrations over the..."dramatic reveal", as it were. I, too, find that this tends not to bring the...best reactions in others. I assume you rather wish to be in your own time. Your own world again. Rather than giving you the illusion of choice, I wish to show you your...past existence and see what it is you truly desire._"

A television screen suddenly appears behind the G-Man. It started to play what looked like John's past life. John watched it...and absolutely despised it. The way John acted seemed more like a Gary Stu rather than a normal, functioning human. Nothing felt cohesive; it all seemed like an arbitrary trip just to somehow destroy the Combine, and even that didn't feel satisfying or anything worth while. The TV shut off, with G-Man turning to John with a smile.

"_The choice is yours, Mister Freeman._"

"...Nah. I don't think I ever want to go back there again."

"_Interesting choice, Mister Freeman. Normally, I don't offer these types of...services to those such as you. But, these rather unorthodox circumstances do have...interesting repercussions. In the meantime... **this is where I get off.**_"

A white door suddenly opens up, and the G-Man enters through it. Then, John hears the snap of fingertips. Everything starts to get fuzzy...  


John wakes up on the ground, surrounded by Gordon, Alyx, Dr. Kleiner, and Eli. There is a throbbing pain coming from his head; it felt like he had been slammed against a wall by a steamroller. Gordon sees John wake up and hugs him. John felt water running down his shoulder. Was...Gordon crying? John hugged back and began to feel tears build up in his eyes. Soon, everyone joined in for a group hug and began to smile. Things were finally starting to look much brighter. 

###### THE END.


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Squirrelking for making the original FLC, thank you to "hi" for the first comment of this fanfiction, and a big special thank you to @LewdXT on Twitter for the support! And now, the epilogue!

# Half-Life: Rewritten Consequences

### Epilogue:

After everyone successfully managed to take down Breen and his ruthless empire, many of its citizens started to rebuild the city into a new community. Although John did miss part of his old life, he did appreciate the current timeline he was residing in. Many of the new citizens wanted John to be president, which John declined. Everyone lived a little bit happier than before, though they were still preparing for the eventual Combine invasion which might be closer than they realize.

###### The (actual) End.


End file.
